On this episode of 'Inside The Mavs' Kevin Gray, Mavericks Pre/Post Game Host breaks down the Dallas Mavericks losing in GM 5 of the NBA Finals to the Celtics and what is next for Luka, Kyrie and the Mavericks after falling short in the NBA Finals. Kevin's breakdown the Mavericks incredible journey through the regular season and postseason as he looks forward to the Mavs summer and more!
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Support the show: This episode is brought to you by Aura. Aura: Stop data brokers from exposing your personal information. Go to my sponsor at https://aura.com/kevingray to get a 14-day free trial and see how much of yours is being sold.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Luke. Obviously it's fresh right now, but so much has changed with this
organization since the ND the last season, you know, your first finals appearance.
How do you feel about kind ofthe state of the franchise now and
the opportunities going into the future forthis uh, this group, I feel
(00:20):
great. We did some great moose. I would say, you know,
we've been together for five months.I'm proud of any very every guy that
step on the floor, all thecoaches, all the people behind obviously within
finals, but we did have ahell of a season and I'm proud of
every one of them. The Mavericksmagical season comes to an end in Game
(00:45):
five of the NBA Finals. What'snext for the Mavericks after what was an
incredible season for this Dallas basketball team. This is Inside the Maps. Welcome
(01:26):
to Inside the mass presented by Aura. I'm your host, Kevin Gray,
Mavericks pre and Pels game host onlyDallas Mavericks Radio Network. Appreciate you joining
me here for the latest episode ofInside the MAVs. Make sure you download
and subscribe to the podcast wherever youget your podcasts or free give it a
five star rating and write a reviewfor it. While you're there, and
if you're watching this on my YouTubechannel at Kevin Gray Sports, make sure
(01:47):
you like and comments on the videoand subscribe to Kevin Gray Sports on YouTube
and you can follow me on Twitteras well. That's Kevin Gray Sports.
The Mavericks fall in Game five ofthe NBA Finals, one to six to
eighty eight, as the Boston Celticswin their first championship since two thousand eights
and their eighteenth championship in franchise history, completing one of the more historic seasons
(02:13):
in NBA history, as the Celticsfinished the overall regular season and postseason at
eighty and twenty one, a sevento ninety two win percentage that saw the
Celtics be able to take out theMavericks in five games of the Finals,
one oh six to eighty eight,as the mavericks magical season comes to an
end after becoming one of the bestteams in all of the NBA, a
(02:37):
defensive juggernaut and a team led byan MVP candidate and Luka Doncic, a
resurgent Kyrie Irving who averaged twenty fiveto five and five on the year and
saw trades with PJ. Washington andDaniel Gaffer turn around the fortunes of this
team along with a cast of roleplayers, with guys like Derek Jones,
Junior Dante Exem, Josh Green andothers be able to put themselves in this
(03:01):
position along with a talented rookie andDerek Lively the second where the Mavericks went
from the lottery to the NBA Finalsin large part because of Derek Lively the
second as well in his emergence asa talented big man, becoming only the
second rookie in NBA history to havemultiple double doubles in the NBA Finals,
(03:23):
joining Magic Johnson who did it innineteen eighty. A lot to celebrate with
this Mavericks team, but obviously ofdisappointing finish in Game five, where the
Mavericks were within a point at nineteento eighteen with a minute fifty five left
in the first quarter, but theCeltics ripped off nine straight points to finish
(03:43):
at near two minutes of the firstquarter, the final two minutes of that
first quarter with a nine to zerorun, and they took a ten point
lead at twenty eight to eighteen atthe end of the first quarter and for
a Mavericks team who was extremely aggressivein Game number four to be able to
beat the Celtics by thirty eight points, you didn't see that same aggressiveness in
terms of attacking the rim and gettingdownhill in Game five. The Mavericks started
(04:08):
one of nine from the field beforerallying with an eleven to seven run to
be able to eventually get it withinone at nineteen to eighteen with just under
two minutes left in that first quarter, But the Celtics were just too much
in terms of their ability. DrewHolliday was spectacular in the game. He
scored the first six points for Boston, as again they led by eighteen or
(04:29):
led by ten at the end ofone twenty eight to eighteen. Josh Green
was able to keep them in it, knocking down a couple of three pointers
in that first quarter where he wasable to go four to six from downtown
in the game, but the Maverickssimply could not deal with what was overwhelmingly
at Boston Celtics team that was determinedto get things finished. In Game five,
(04:50):
the Mavericks were down by ten tostart that second quarter, saw the
Celtics push their lead to thirteen atforty three to thirty in the first four
and a half minutes of the period, as Kyrie and Derreck Jones Junior each
had five points in the first fourand a half minutes of the period.
Eventually, the Mavericks were able toget it down to what was a nine
point deficit at forty eight to thirtynine with an eight to two run after
(05:14):
being down by fifteen at forty sixto thirty one. That was in part
because the Celtics went super small withJason Tatum at the five and in four
straight possessions. The Mavericks were ableto get into the paint and get some
easy buckets led by Daniel Gafford,but the Celtics would close the final five
minutes of the first half of whatwas a nineteen to seven run, capped
(05:35):
off by Peyton Pritchards buzzer beater atthe end of the first half to give
them what was a twenty one pointlead at sixty seven to forty six,
and it was over from there.The Mavericks shot yes forty two percent from
downtown and sixty three percent from thefield. The Boston shot sixty four percent
from three and sixty percent from thefield. Jason Tatum, who was spectacular
(05:58):
in Game number five had two twelvepoints, also had a first half,
great first half in terms of passingthe basketball as well, where you look
at what he had in terms ofnine assists to go along with sixteen points
in the first half doing a littlebit of it all, and his running
mate and Jalaln Brown had fifteen points. Jallen Brown of course named NBA Finals
MVP after having won the Eastern ConferenceFinals MVP, but the Mavericks tried to
(06:25):
keep themselves in it by knocking downsome threes Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, the
demons that he faced in Boston ingames one to two reared their ugly head
again in game number five. Afterhaving what was thirty five points in game
number three, albeit in the loss, but we had twenty one points in
game four where he and Luca combinedfor fifty in that game four win to
(06:47):
get it back to Boston, butit just simply wasn't meant to be and
the Mavericks inability to be able totake advantage of being able to get into
the inside. Christaps Porzingis did playin the game as well, l sixteen
minutes for the Bossons Celtics provided thema little bit of a lift as well
with his presence on the floor.The Mavericks just simply weren't able to overcome
(07:08):
what was an overwhelmingly talented and deepBoston team where Al Horford becomes an NBA
champion for the first time in hiscareer at the age of thirty eight years
old, and the course, JasonTatum and Jylen Brown having now completed what
has been in your seven eight yearprocess for them to get to a championship,
(07:29):
and they just simply outclassed the Mavericksas it was pretty much over after
the end of the first half.But when you look at what the Mavericks
were able to do throughout the courseof the season, they accomplished a ton
and with them a bright future whenit comes to this Mavericks team. Luka
doncrit speaking about that bright future afterthe game on what was Monday night to
(07:53):
be able to describe how he feelsabout the direction of the franchise and more
importantly, how he feels going farabout what the mavers are able to do
based on what they were able toaccomplish this year. Take a list,
Luke. Obviously it's fresh right now, but so much has changed with this
organization since then the last season,you know, your first Finals appearance.
(08:16):
How do you feel about kind ofthe state of the franchise now and the
opportunities going into the future for thisUh, this group feel great. We
did some great moves. I wouldsay, you know, we've been together
for five months. I'm proud ofany very every guy that step on the
(08:37):
floor, all the coaches, allthe people behind obviously with Finals, but
we did have a hell of aseason and I'm proud of every one of
them. So Dodge is feeling confidentabout the direction of the franchise, as
he should based on the fact thatthis team was able to remake their identity
at the trade deadline to become oneof the best teams in the NBA.
(09:00):
Hey, more on this on theother side of the break on what the
matters were able to accomp was whattheir future looks like and what they must
do to continue to improve going forward. But before we get there, let's
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Please see the link in the descriptionback here on Inside the MAVs, thank
you for hanging out with us throughour spot, and thank you to today's
sponsor of our podcast in our videoand Aura as the Maverige fall in Game
(10:56):
five of the NBA Finals to theBoston Celtics one oh six to eighty eight,
bringing to an end what was anincredible run for this Mavericks team.
A team that was not expected tomake this run to the NBA Finals,
A team that just a year agofound themselves in the lottery being able to
draft Derek Lively the second they signedDerek Jones Junior as the last signee of
(11:18):
the offseason, and he comes inearns a spot to become a valued member
of this team. A team thathas a decision on how they're going to
create the necessary room to bring backDereck Jones junior at this point that Mavericks
having just the five million dollar midlevel exception, they could create as much
as enough room to get to thetwelve point eight million dollar full mid level
(11:41):
exception. That would take some salarycap gymnastics on their part to do that.
There will be plenty of time overthe coming days and weeks to discuss
how the Mavericks will improve from afree agency standpoint, because they'll need to
find a way to get some moreshooting and to be able to find a
way to get another playmaker and ballguard that can dip and defend on the
(12:01):
defensive end in a lot of ways, like how you saw Drew Holliday do
so for the Boston Celtics. I'mnot saying that the Mavericks have the requisite
room to be able to find atrue Holiday type, but they would need
to find someone who can defend onthe perimeter and provide some extra scoring as
well, because if you look atthe makeup of the Boston Celtics, their
ability to have multiple guys that canshoot from the three point line and multiple
(12:24):
guys that are terrific defenders, theMavericks still has some work to do.
PJ. Washington who was a partof this Mavericks team coming over at the
trade deadline, who had a hugeimpact, especially in the Oklahoma City Series
in the NBA Playoffs, discussing howhe feels about the Mavericks in his time
spending the half season with the Mavericksand looking forward to getting his work in
(12:48):
in the offseason to have a fullseason with the Mavericks this upcoming year.
Take a listen. I think it'sbeen great. It's been good since I
got here, and I'm just excitedto get better on offseason in really place
a whole season with these guys andhave had it next year. So I'm
super proud of obviously being here andwe made it far in the time being,
(13:11):
but obviously we have work to do. Of course, Washington becoming a
huge part of this team, becominga guy that became the primary defender for
the Mavericks with his ability to guardmultiple positions. He will need to continue
to improve his shot from the threepoint line, but we saw how he
was able to be really effective,especially from the corners. And when you've
(13:33):
got playmakers like Luca Donchis and KyrieIrving, you're going to have a lot
of wide open threes and PJ.Washington and Darren Jones Junior were definitely the
beneficiaries of the ability of Luca Dodgersand Kyrie Irving to find them and then
being able to knock down shots well. This team was able to put together
the resiliency of this group throughout theentirety of this season. A team that
(13:56):
remade its identity at the trade deadline, a team that at the beginning of
the year was a team that shota bunch of threes and tried to outscore
you. With the acquisitions of DanielGafford from Washington and PJ. Washington from
Charlotte, Never forget we started thisseason with Grant Williams being the most prized
(14:16):
possession that the Mavericks acquired during theoff season, and he was gone at
the trade deadline. Because the Mavericksunderstood that they had made a mistake with
the Grant Williams move, pivoted andwere able to get Gafford and PJ.
Washington to come in to really turnthe fortunes of this team around. And
what they were able to do DanielGafford becoming one of the more integral parts
(14:39):
of this team with his shot blockingand his rim running and what he was
able to do of importance with theteam that had something to play for.
Throughout the course of the second halfof the year, you saw his growth
and emergence alongside with Derek live Isbecoming the twin Tower esque type tandem that
the Mavericks, the modern version,if you will, with their abilities to
block shot, to be able tofinish at the rim with authority and transition,
(15:03):
and also off the pick and roll. Those two as a combination became
deadly throughout the second half of theyear. And when those two's production,
when you saw them having to combinetwenty plus rebounds and the twenty plus points,
the ten plus and fifteen plus reboundgames, the four or five plus
combined box per game, that's whenthis team was at their best with those
(15:24):
two being able to operate in thepicking roll and be able to finish at
the rim. And you saw thatthe Celtics game plan was to take those
two away when it came to Gaffordand Lively in the NBA Finals. So
they should be proud of the factthat the Celtics knew the importance of Gafford
and Lively so much so that theymade them the focal point that they needed
to take away, and they wereable to do so from the most part.
(15:48):
But there are plenty of players thatyou look at throughout the course of
the season that showed growth, whetherit be a Jayden Hardy who became a
little bit better of a playmaker asthe season went on, Jayden Hardy being
able to find themselves being a contributorin the postseason, as Jason Kibb was
able to push that button at timesto get some scoring off the bench.
We mentioned guys with Derek Jones,Junior PJ. Washington, Daniel Gafford,
(16:11):
But it all starts and ends,of course, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie
Irving. Luka doncis becoming the firstplayer in NBA history to lead the playoffs
in points, rebounds, assists,and steals. Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic
what they were able to do togetherin this postseason, racking up two points
(16:32):
combined in the playoffs, the mostby any guard duo in in a single
postseason in NBA history. The offensivemusic that those two made together in their
first full season together really gave youan idea of that the future, even
with Kyrie Irving at the age ofthirty two, is still extremely bright for
this team, knowing the foundation thatis set with Luka Doncic, a five
(16:56):
time first team All NBA selection,a scoring champion this season, a guy
who had seventy three points, anda myriad of other accomplishments that will continue
to get into But for Kyrie Irving, his resurgence averaging twenty five to five
and five this year, becoming theveteran leader, leader guy for the Dallas
(17:18):
average. Being the emotional leader forthis team to be able to help steady
them as they navigated their way throughoutthe rest of the regular season after the
trade deadline, especially and into thepostseason is something that would be truly remembered
for this past season. Kyrie Irvingspeaking about the foundation that's been built by
Dallas with him and Luca there andwhat the future looks like even after a
(17:41):
difficult loss in the NBA Finals.Take a listen. Very confident. I
mean, that's what's a positive notethat we can take from the series.
Just how far we made it,and you know, how proud of it
I am of the guys, andyou know, we answered a lot of
questions this year on what we werecapable of doing, and now it's just
(18:04):
about being consistent. I think,you know, probably in the last week
I said that, you know,I wanted to be remembered as one of
the best teams of this era.You know, the last few champions have
have been a new one each eachand every year. So I see an
opportunity for us to really build ourfuture in a positive manner where you know,
this is almost like a regular thingfor us, and we're competing for
(18:25):
championships, and you know, Ithink from a spiritual standpoint, I think
I enjoyed this journey more than anyother season, just because of the redemption
arc and being able to learn asmuch as I did by myself and my
teammates and organization and the people thatI'm around. It's a lot of good
people here, so it makes comingto work a lot of fun. And
(18:47):
when you have that type of environment, I think, you know, it's
easy to achieve goals that are biggerthan yourself because everyone's really dialed in and
having a good sense of joy aboutthem. And while yes, this loss
is difficult to process obviously, giventhe fact that a lot of folks came
into this series, thinking that theMavericks could potentially take out the Celtics.
The Mavericks learned a lot of lessonsin this series. And when you look
(19:10):
back at what happened in the NBAFinals with the Boston Celtics, you look
specifically at Games two and three.The Celtics were begging the Mavericks to take
Game two with the way that theywere playing, but the Mavericks weren't able
to take advantage on the road.We're at minimum that series could have been
at one point one coming back toDallas. And then in Game three,
(19:30):
of course, the Mavericks found themselvesmaking a twenty two to two run to
get within one with three and ahalf minutes left in the game in Game
three, again giving them an opportunityto potentially win. And when you look
at the resiliency of this team,specifically using the example of Game three of
the NBA Finals, a Mavericks teamthat during the regular season was extremely good
(19:53):
in the clutch, A team thatwent twenty three to nine in the clutch
the season. Only the Lakers morewins in the clutch during the regular season.
A team that never gave up ongames, whether it be making a
thirty one point come back to againstthe Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.
The multiple comebacks that we have seenfrom this team to be able to
(20:15):
get themselves in this position, ateam that never gave up on any game,
but at the same time was notable to take a lot of that
into the finals because they were playingsimply a better team. We mentioned the
makeup of the Celtics and how goodand how deep they were. They didn't
necessarily shoot the ball great from thethree point line, but they made enough
timely three pointers to be able togive themselves the opportunities to win these games.
(20:40):
And Mavericks didn't take advantage enough ofthose opportunities when they had them.
And then when they did in Gamefour, they sat down and they guarded,
and they defended, and they playedan extremely high level. And that
is one thing that I'm glad thatI got to see in terms of the
Mavericks in this NBA Finals that,at least for one game, even against
what was a better team the BostonCeltics and the Jugger or not that they
(21:02):
were throughout the course of the regularseason in postseason, you saw in Game
four what Mavericks basketball looks like andwhat it should look like going forward.
A team that can defend, ateam that can get in and attack the
paints led by the superstars and LucaDotson Kyrie, irving their role players,
whether it be Dante exem PJ Washingtonand a number of others be able to
(21:23):
be the catalyst to be supportive ofLuca and Kyrie for this team. That
is what Mavericks basketball looks like.That in Game three or Game four,
excuse me, is what you sawholding the Celtics to a season low eighty
four points, just thirty five pointsin the first half, the lowest in
the Joe Missoula era, who hadthirty five years of age, ironically is
(21:45):
the second youngest coach to win anNBA championship. But that is what Mavericks
basketball looks like. And overcoming theinjuries and the adversity that they dealt with
throughout the course of the year ofthis team who won fifty games during the
regular season, and you saw intheir most meaningful games down the stretch go
sixteen and two, become a defensivejuggernaut, a team that could win games
(22:08):
in a variety of ways. Iwish that we could have seen that a
little bit more in the NBA Finals, and when we talk about teams that
set foundations for years of success tocome, the Mavericks are in that position
with a couple of guys in termsof PJ. Washington and Daniel Gaffert at
the age of twenty five, whocould continue to grow with this team.
(22:30):
Luka Doncis the same as well,as he continues to navigate how much more
he can get healthy going into thisoffseason, because there are real questions about
whether or not Luka Doncis is goingto be trying to play in the Olympics.
We know what he was dealing withfrom an injury standpoint as the NBA
Finals went on, dealing with thechess contusion on top of the ankle soreness,
(22:52):
the knees sprain, the quad injury, and all the other myriad of
injuries that Luka Doncic has dealt with, and even with the criticism that he
was given during the NBA Finals becauseof his defense at times when Luka Donci's
desires to play well on that endof the floor, we know what he's
capable of going into next season.He will have to be that much more
(23:15):
consistent night in and night out tobe able to help this team continue to
be the kind of defensive team thatwe saw and hopefully with some help when
it comes to the off season andthe moves that Nico Harrison in his front
office can make to improve this team. But Luka Doncic, who was asked
about playing in the Olympics going intothis summer, especially dealing with the injuries
(23:37):
that he's dealing with, had thisto say about his future going into this
offseason. Take a listen, there'sa quick turnaround time before the Olympic qualifying
tournament. What do you I wantto talk about? What's next? Man?
I have some decisions, some decisionsto make, just trying to get
a little bit healthier. We'll talkwe have in two days, right,
(24:00):
so I'll give you an answer tothat. So Dodge is not really necessarily
to talk about what his future planslooks like, and we will learn over
the coming days exactly what he wasdealing with in terms of the extent of
his injuries, how bad they actuallywere, and how much it hampered him
as the rest of the postseason wenton. Because when you look at Game
(24:22):
five, you could tell that LukaDoncic had ran out of gas at that
point. The inability to make shotsin the three point line, where Luca
in Game number five with two ofnine from downtown hen and Kyrie Irviy combined
to go just five of fourteen orfive of eighteen excuse me from the three
point line. The Mavericks simply didnot have enough left in the tank.
(24:44):
In Game four was their last standto be able to try and create some
belief that they could make a historiccomeback in this NBA Finals, but ultimately
obviously falling short. But for LukaDoncic in the season that he had,
we mentioned some of the in crediblenumbers that he put together, a seventy
three point game, the NBA scoringChampion, making the first team All the
(25:07):
NBA for the fifth consecutive year,a player who has put himself in position
as a perennial MVP candidate, finishingthird in the MVP voting this year the
most points, rebounds, and assistscombined since the merger, a historic thirty
four to nine to nine seasons,something that we've never seen before. Improving
his three point shooting that during theregular season was shooting over thirty eight percent
(25:32):
from the three point line and continuingto put himself in position as arguably the
best player in the world and gettingto this stage. We saw the best
of Luka Doncic at times in thispostseason, and also the worst when it
came to the complaining to officials andhis inability to remain composed at times with
things not going necessarily his way whenit came to calls from the referees.
(25:57):
But all of this will serve asa learning lesson when you look at the
anles of NBA history. Going throughthis kind of cycle is important for a
player to be able to learn howto win and how to fail on this
stage. You can look at theteam that just beat the Celtics that they
just lost to in terms of Boston, the Celtics, who just a couple
(26:19):
of years ago lost in the NBAFinals two of the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics themselves were up two gamesto one with the lead in Game four
and ultimately lost to Stephen Curry andthe Warriors. Last year losing in seven
games to the Miami Heat and abitter Eastern Conference Finals where Jason Tatum got
hurt in Game seven and was ableto finish the East Final and then this
(26:41):
year steam rolling through everyone in theEast with the best record in the league
all season. They were determined tofinish the job. And for the Mavericks
when you look at the last threeseasons for them, a team that had
made a surprise run to the WesternConference Finals after taking out the utah As
and of course the Phoenix Suns inthat epic seven game series before ultimately losing
(27:04):
to what was the NBA champion GoldenState Wars and then dropping all the way
out of the lottery and into thelottery, I should say, after not
making the playoffs, they acquired KyrieIrving, moving on from Spencer Dinwiddie and
Dorian Finney Smith because they felt likethey had to increase the offensive ceiling,
to find another superstar to go alongsideLuka Doncics to raise the potential ceiling of
(27:26):
this team not just for last yearbut going into the future. But that
going by the wayside as a Matteriefinished thirty eight and forty four, five
and eleven with Luke and Kyrie togetherin the starting line and major questions from
folks on the outside if Luca andKyrie could be the type of dynamic duo
to be able to lead this chargeto an NBA Finals eventually, and then
(27:48):
they were able to do so andbeing able to turn the fortunes of the
Mavericks around. And it started withthe drafting of Derek Lively, the second
who's emergence as a rookie and hisgrowth maturity throughout the course of the year,
even dealing with difficulty in the lossof his mother, was really able
to turn this team's fortunes around onthe defensive end. And then pairing him
(28:10):
with Daniel Gaffor, you saw thedefensive juggernaut that the Mavericks became. And
when Dante Exim and PJ. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr. And they continued
to defend and knock down shots,and you saw the variety of ways that
the Mavericks were able to win gamesthroughout the course of the regular season,
Kyrie Irving hitting an epic buzzer beaterto beat the Denver Nuggets. The belief
(28:30):
and what this team could be andtheir potential into what they could be in
the postseason started to rise and youand I, as we chronicled throughout the
course of the season, thought maybethis is a team that could win a
first round series, maybe get tothe Western Conference semi finals, depending on
the matchup. Little did we knowthat this team was going to galvanize together
(28:52):
to become the team that they didto make the kind of run to the
NBA Finals. Not only that wasunexpected, but a team that at times
looked dominant in the postseason. Justasks the Minnesota Timberwolves. How the Mavericks
are able to take them out infive games with Luka Doncis's incredible shot making
Obviously, remember what he did inGame two, cooking Rudy Gobert for the
(29:14):
game winning three pointer and being ableto win that series in five games.
Jason Kidd and this team showed thekind of growth and potential that should give
us, as Mavericks fans and folkswho watch and cover this team the confidence
that was Nico Harrison's leadership in thefront office. Jason Kidd, yes,
the much maligned Jason Kidd, beable to leave this team down the road
(29:34):
because you've got your two pillars andLuka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way.
Even with Kyrie Irving at the ageof thirty two, how much more
does he have left over the nextcouple of years to help the Mavericks stay
in finals contention where it's going tobe difficult. In the Western Conference.
You look at the Denver Nuggets,of Minnesota, Timberwolves obviously, with the
(29:56):
Oklahoma City Thunder, the return ofJohn Morant with the Memphis Grizzlies. There
are a ton of teams with aton of talent that the Mavericks are going
to have to deal with over thenext several years. And yes, was
this a missed opportunity for the Mavericksto win an NBA championship. Of course
it was. Every time you getto the finals, you want to win
(30:18):
it because you never know how longit may take you to get back.
Just look at Dirt Navinski. DirtDavinsky and his Mavericks, of course,
made the NBA Finals back in twothousand and six, had a two games
to none lead there lost that series, of course, with the Miami Heat
winning four straight games, but ittook him several years to get back to
that point and eventually taking on theMiami Heat once again a new version of
(30:41):
course, with Lebron James and ChrisBosh and Dwayne Wade. But the Mavericks
were able to win with a veteranpoint guard and Jason Kidd, a defensive
minded team led by Tyson Chandler,and of course they're Superstar and Dirt Nevinsky.
The Mavericks will have to go throughthese growing pains, as difficult as
they are, but they can lookto their past to see that if you
(31:03):
continue to work to build and growand build the right chemistry around your top
superstars, in this case being LukaDonci Kyrie Irving, you can get back
to this point. Will the roadbe difficult, It will be extremely difficult
to navigate in the Western Conference,But at the same time, when you
have arguably the best player in theworld and the best sidekick in the league
(31:25):
and Kyrie Irving, you feel goodabout your chances to eventually get back to
the NBA finals. But painful learninglessons For Luka Dacic, who will now
go into this offseason, we willlearn, as I mentioned a little bit
earlier, the extent to which hisinjuries were plaguing him throughout the course of
the regular season and into the postseason, and what that means for him,
(31:47):
not only in terms of his plansto play in the Olympics, but what
that means in terms of his ownrehab to get ready for this upcoming season
for the Mavericks, because the longer, of course you play in the regular
season and into the postseason obviously intothe NBA Finals, need more shorten your
offseason becomes because we'll be right backat it in three and a half months,
(32:07):
which will fly by like crazy.We've got the NBA Draft coming up
here relatively shortly, We've got NBAfree agency coming up at the end of
June, and before you know it, we're going to be looking at the
month of July and getting ready forSummer League here within less than a month.
So the NBA timeline and calendar continuesto fly, and the Mavericks have
(32:28):
got a lot of work to doto improve this team, namely with trying
to keep Dereck Jones junior. DanteExum's contract becomes guaranteed with the three point
one to five million dollars at theend of June as well, and what
the mavers are going to do withthe fifty eighth overall pick, the final
pick in the NBA drafts. We'llsee if Ronnie James may be there and
available for the Mavericks to take wherewe've heard rumors that they would be willing
(32:52):
to draft Ronnie James. I don'tnecessarily think he'll be there by the time
we get to the NBA Draft,But that's another conversation for another day.
But this is a chance for usto be able to understand, reflect,
and be able to look at theentire accomplishments of this team throughout the course
of the regular season. While yesending in bitter disappointment in the NBA Finals,
(33:15):
they lost to what was the betterteam and the Boston Celtics, who
proved that to be throughout the courseof the entirety of the regular season.
But now looking forward from the Mavericks, their future is bright. They've got
established superstars in Luca Dons and KyrieIrving, a core of young foundational pieces
that they can build on who willget better during the offseason, and hopefully
(33:37):
with some tinkers and improvements, thisteam will be right back where they need
to be moving forward. But theirplace as finals contenders is officially stamped and
officially to move going forward here,this team will have a MVP favorite.
Luca Doncs will be the MVP favoritegoing into this upcoming season. This team
who has gone through the experience now, and that is the thing that I
(34:00):
will take the most solace with goinginto the summer and into next season.
This team has been through what ittakes to make a finals run. Luca
Doncis now understands what it takes,the kind of sacrifice body control and taking
care of his body to be ableto get to an NBA Finals. He
will have to improve on that goinginto this upcoming season. But all the
(34:22):
experience now, experience, especially inlife and in basketball, is the best
teacher they found. Getting valuable experiencehere and dealing with this Celtics team,
albeit in the loss of the finals, that will take them and carry them
going into next season and hopefully serveas the fuel and motivation and the fire
to get back to this position toultimately capitalize on this, because I don't
(34:45):
think this is the last that wewill see on Luca Doncis in the Dallas
Maveris in the NBA Finals. Butit will be incumbent upon them to be
able to take that onus and challengeto be able to be in this spot
next year, to be able tohave a chance to win a championship.
And I believe that the competitive firethat Luka Doncic has along with the rest
of this team will be able tobe in that spot and it will be
(35:08):
one hell of a regular season aswe chronicle them going into next year and
hopefully another deep playoff run on whatthat looks like, because this loss,
this finals experience will definitely drive LukaDoncis that much further to become the NBA
champion that we believe he's destined tobecome. But ultimately falling on this stage
(35:30):
for the very first time, theDallas Mavericks lose in five games to the
Boston Celtics as the Celtics celebrate theireighteenth championship in franchise history. As I
mentioned, Jalen Brown named Eastern ConferenceFinals MVP and the NBA Finals MVP,
Luka donci Is winning Western Conference FinalsMVP on his way to his first NBA
(35:50):
Finals. The Mavericks future is bright. The question is how much brighter can
it get with the moves that theywill need to make to improve this team
going forward, But we will chronicleplenty throughout the course of the offseason here
on inside the MAVs. Thank youso much for this incredible ride in this
season. Here on Inside the Mask. Thank you so much to you and
your support of me and Grant onthis podcast throughout the course of the regular
(36:15):
season and end of the postseason.We really appreciate all of you who continue
to support Inside the Mass, whetherit be downloading the podcast, watching here
on my YouTube channel at Kevin GraySports. Continue to help us grow the
show and the podcast as well.We'll have plenty of more covers throughout the
course of the NBA Draft into NBAFree Agency. I'll be at Summer League
(36:35):
this year as well. We've gota lot more to bring you here on
Inside the MAVs again. That'll doit for this episode of Inside the Mass
presented by Aura. I'm your Maverickspre and postgame host Kevin Gray on the
Dallas Maveris Radio Network. Thank youto all those who listen throughout all of
our radio broadcasts throughout the course ofthe season. It was one hell of
a ride and we cannot wait toget back at it going into next year
(36:59):
as well. But this has beenInside the MAVs presented by our
Luke. Obviously it's fresh right now, but so much has changed with this
organization since the ND the last season, you know, your first finals appearance.
How do you feel about kind ofthe state of the franchise now and
the opportunities going into the future forthis uh, this group, I feel
(00:20):
great. We did some great moose. I would say, you know,
we've been together for five months.I'm proud of any very every guy that
step on the floor, all thecoaches, all the people behind obviously within
finals, but we did have ahell of a season and I'm proud of
every one of them. The Mavericksmagical season comes to an end in Game
(00:45):
five of the NBA Finals. What'snext for the Mavericks after what was an
incredible season for this Dallas basketball team. This is Inside the Maps. Welcome
(01:26):
to Inside the mass presented by Aura. I'm your host, Kevin Gray,
Mavericks pre and Pels game host onlyDallas Mavericks Radio Network. Appreciate you joining
me here for the latest episode ofInside the MAVs. Make sure you download
and subscribe to the podcast wherever youget your podcasts or free give it a
five star rating and write a reviewfor it. While you're there, and
if you're watching this on my YouTubechannel at Kevin Gray Sports, make sure
(01:47):
you like and comments on the videoand subscribe to Kevin Gray Sports on YouTube
and you can follow me on Twitteras well. That's Kevin Gray Sports.
The Mavericks fall in Game five ofthe NBA Finals, one to six to
eighty eight, as the Boston Celticswin their first championship since two thousand eights
and their eighteenth championship in franchise history, completing one of the more historic seasons
(02:13):
in NBA history, as the Celticsfinished the overall regular season and postseason at
eighty and twenty one, a sevento ninety two win percentage that saw the
Celtics be able to take out theMavericks in five games of the Finals,
one oh six to eighty eight,as the mavericks magical season comes to an
end after becoming one of the bestteams in all of the NBA, a
(02:37):
defensive juggernaut and a team led byan MVP candidate and Luka Doncic, a
resurgent Kyrie Irving who averaged twenty fiveto five and five on the year and
saw trades with PJ. Washington andDaniel Gaffer turn around the fortunes of this
team along with a cast of roleplayers, with guys like Derek Jones,
Junior Dante Exem, Josh Green andothers be able to put themselves in this
(03:01):
position along with a talented rookie andDerek Lively the second where the Mavericks went
from the lottery to the NBA Finalsin large part because of Derek Lively the
second as well in his emergence asa talented big man, becoming only the
second rookie in NBA history to havemultiple double doubles in the NBA Finals,
(03:23):
joining Magic Johnson who did it innineteen eighty. A lot to celebrate with
this Mavericks team, but obviously ofdisappointing finish in Game five, where the
Mavericks were within a point at nineteento eighteen with a minute fifty five left
in the first quarter, but theCeltics ripped off nine straight points to finish
(03:43):
at near two minutes of the firstquarter, the final two minutes of that
first quarter with a nine to zerorun, and they took a ten point
lead at twenty eight to eighteen atthe end of the first quarter and for
a Mavericks team who was extremely aggressivein Game number four to be able to
beat the Celtics by thirty eight points, you didn't see that same aggressiveness in
terms of attacking the rim and gettingdownhill in Game five. The Mavericks started
(04:08):
one of nine from the field beforerallying with an eleven to seven run to
be able to eventually get it withinone at nineteen to eighteen with just under
two minutes left in that first quarter, But the Celtics were just too much
in terms of their ability. DrewHolliday was spectacular in the game. He
scored the first six points for Boston, as again they led by eighteen or
(04:29):
led by ten at the end ofone twenty eight to eighteen. Josh Green
was able to keep them in it, knocking down a couple of three pointers
in that first quarter where he wasable to go four to six from downtown
in the game, but the Maverickssimply could not deal with what was overwhelmingly
at Boston Celtics team that was determinedto get things finished. In Game five,
(04:50):
the Mavericks were down by ten tostart that second quarter, saw the
Celtics push their lead to thirteen atforty three to thirty in the first four
and a half minutes of the period, as Kyrie and Derreck Jones Junior each
had five points in the first fourand a half minutes of the period.
Eventually, the Mavericks were able toget it down to what was a nine
point deficit at forty eight to thirtynine with an eight to two run after
(05:14):
being down by fifteen at forty sixto thirty one. That was in part
because the Celtics went super small withJason Tatum at the five and in four
straight possessions. The Mavericks were ableto get into the paint and get some
easy buckets led by Daniel Gafford,but the Celtics would close the final five
minutes of the first half of whatwas a nineteen to seven run, capped
(05:35):
off by Peyton Pritchards buzzer beater atthe end of the first half to give
them what was a twenty one pointlead at sixty seven to forty six,
and it was over from there.The Mavericks shot yes forty two percent from
downtown and sixty three percent from thefield. The Boston shot sixty four percent
from three and sixty percent from thefield. Jason Tatum, who was spectacular
(05:58):
in Game number five had two twelvepoints, also had a first half,
great first half in terms of passingthe basketball as well, where you look
at what he had in terms ofnine assists to go along with sixteen points
in the first half doing a littlebit of it all, and his running
mate and Jalaln Brown had fifteen points. Jallen Brown of course named NBA Finals
MVP after having won the Eastern ConferenceFinals MVP, but the Mavericks tried to
(06:25):
keep themselves in it by knocking downsome threes Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, the
demons that he faced in Boston ingames one to two reared their ugly head
again in game number five. Afterhaving what was thirty five points in game
number three, albeit in the loss, but we had twenty one points in
game four where he and Luca combinedfor fifty in that game four win to
(06:47):
get it back to Boston, butit just simply wasn't meant to be and
the Mavericks inability to be able totake advantage of being able to get into
the inside. Christaps Porzingis did playin the game as well, l sixteen
minutes for the Bossons Celtics provided thema little bit of a lift as well
with his presence on the floor.The Mavericks just simply weren't able to overcome
(07:08):
what was an overwhelmingly talented and deepBoston team where Al Horford becomes an NBA
champion for the first time in hiscareer at the age of thirty eight years
old, and the course, JasonTatum and Jylen Brown having now completed what
has been in your seven eight yearprocess for them to get to a championship,
(07:29):
and they just simply outclassed the Mavericksas it was pretty much over after
the end of the first half.But when you look at what the Mavericks
were able to do throughout the courseof the season, they accomplished a ton
and with them a bright future whenit comes to this Mavericks team. Luka
doncrit speaking about that bright future afterthe game on what was Monday night to
(07:53):
be able to describe how he feelsabout the direction of the franchise and more
importantly, how he feels going farabout what the mavers are able to do
based on what they were able toaccomplish this year. Take a list,
Luke. Obviously it's fresh right now, but so much has changed with this
organization since then the last season,you know, your first Finals appearance.
(08:16):
How do you feel about kind ofthe state of the franchise now and the
opportunities going into the future for thisUh, this group feel great. We
did some great moves. I wouldsay, you know, we've been together
for five months. I'm proud ofany very every guy that step on the
(08:37):
floor, all the coaches, allthe people behind obviously with Finals, but
we did have a hell of aseason and I'm proud of every one of
them. So Dodge is feeling confidentabout the direction of the franchise, as
he should based on the fact thatthis team was able to remake their identity
at the trade deadline to become oneof the best teams in the NBA.
(09:00):
Hey, more on this on theother side of the break on what the
matters were able to accomp was whattheir future looks like and what they must
do to continue to improve going forward. But before we get there, let's
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Please see the link in the descriptionback here on Inside the MAVs, thank
you for hanging out with us throughour spot, and thank you to today's
sponsor of our podcast in our videoand Aura as the Maverige fall in Game
(10:56):
five of the NBA Finals to theBoston Celtics one oh six to eighty eight,
bringing to an end what was anincredible run for this Mavericks team.
A team that was not expected tomake this run to the NBA Finals,
A team that just a year agofound themselves in the lottery being able to
draft Derek Lively the second they signedDerek Jones Junior as the last signee of
(11:18):
the offseason, and he comes inearns a spot to become a valued member
of this team. A team thathas a decision on how they're going to
create the necessary room to bring backDereck Jones junior at this point that Mavericks
having just the five million dollar midlevel exception, they could create as much
as enough room to get to thetwelve point eight million dollar full mid level
(11:41):
exception. That would take some salarycap gymnastics on their part to do that.
There will be plenty of time overthe coming days and weeks to discuss
how the Mavericks will improve from afree agency standpoint, because they'll need to
find a way to get some moreshooting and to be able to find a
way to get another playmaker and ballguard that can dip and defend on the
(12:01):
defensive end in a lot of ways, like how you saw Drew Holliday do
so for the Boston Celtics. I'mnot saying that the Mavericks have the requisite
room to be able to find atrue Holiday type, but they would need
to find someone who can defend onthe perimeter and provide some extra scoring as
well, because if you look atthe makeup of the Boston Celtics, their
ability to have multiple guys that canshoot from the three point line and multiple
(12:24):
guys that are terrific defenders, theMavericks still has some work to do.
PJ. Washington who was a partof this Mavericks team coming over at the
trade deadline, who had a hugeimpact, especially in the Oklahoma City Series
in the NBA Playoffs, discussing howhe feels about the Mavericks in his time
spending the half season with the Mavericksand looking forward to getting his work in
(12:48):
in the offseason to have a fullseason with the Mavericks this upcoming year.
Take a listen. I think it'sbeen great. It's been good since I
got here, and I'm just excitedto get better on offseason in really place
a whole season with these guys andhave had it next year. So I'm
super proud of obviously being here andwe made it far in the time being,
(13:11):
but obviously we have work to do. Of course, Washington becoming a
huge part of this team, becominga guy that became the primary defender for
the Mavericks with his ability to guardmultiple positions. He will need to continue
to improve his shot from the threepoint line, but we saw how he
was able to be really effective,especially from the corners. And when you've
(13:33):
got playmakers like Luca Donchis and KyrieIrving, you're going to have a lot
of wide open threes and PJ.Washington and Darren Jones Junior were definitely the
beneficiaries of the ability of Luca Dodgersand Kyrie Irving to find them and then
being able to knock down shots well. This team was able to put together
the resiliency of this group throughout theentirety of this season. A team that
(13:56):
remade its identity at the trade deadline, a team that at the beginning of
the year was a team that shota bunch of threes and tried to outscore
you. With the acquisitions of DanielGafford from Washington and PJ. Washington from
Charlotte, Never forget we started thisseason with Grant Williams being the most prized
(14:16):
possession that the Mavericks acquired during theoff season, and he was gone at
the trade deadline. Because the Mavericksunderstood that they had made a mistake with
the Grant Williams move, pivoted andwere able to get Gafford and PJ.
Washington to come in to really turnthe fortunes of this team around. And
what they were able to do DanielGafford becoming one of the more integral parts
(14:39):
of this team with his shot blockingand his rim running and what he was
able to do of importance with theteam that had something to play for.
Throughout the course of the second halfof the year, you saw his growth
and emergence alongside with Derek live Isbecoming the twin Tower esque type tandem that
the Mavericks, the modern version,if you will, with their abilities to
block shot, to be able tofinish at the rim with authority and transition,
(15:03):
and also off the pick and roll. Those two as a combination became
deadly throughout the second half of theyear. And when those two's production,
when you saw them having to combinetwenty plus rebounds and the twenty plus points,
the ten plus and fifteen plus reboundgames, the four or five plus
combined box per game, that's whenthis team was at their best with those
(15:24):
two being able to operate in thepicking roll and be able to finish at
the rim. And you saw thatthe Celtics game plan was to take those
two away when it came to Gaffordand Lively in the NBA Finals. So
they should be proud of the factthat the Celtics knew the importance of Gafford
and Lively so much so that theymade them the focal point that they needed
to take away, and they wereable to do so from the most part.
(15:48):
But there are plenty of players thatyou look at throughout the course of
the season that showed growth, whetherit be a Jayden Hardy who became a
little bit better of a playmaker asthe season went on, Jayden Hardy being
able to find themselves being a contributorin the postseason, as Jason Kibb was
able to push that button at timesto get some scoring off the bench.
We mentioned guys with Derek Jones,Junior PJ. Washington, Daniel Gafford,
(16:11):
But it all starts and ends,of course, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie
Irving. Luka doncis becoming the firstplayer in NBA history to lead the playoffs
in points, rebounds, assists,and steals. Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic
what they were able to do togetherin this postseason, racking up two points
(16:32):
combined in the playoffs, the mostby any guard duo in in a single
postseason in NBA history. The offensivemusic that those two made together in their
first full season together really gave youan idea of that the future, even
with Kyrie Irving at the age ofthirty two, is still extremely bright for
this team, knowing the foundation thatis set with Luka Doncic, a five
(16:56):
time first team All NBA selection,a scoring champion this season, a guy
who had seventy three points, anda myriad of other accomplishments that will continue
to get into But for Kyrie Irving, his resurgence averaging twenty five to five
and five this year, becoming theveteran leader, leader guy for the Dallas
(17:18):
average. Being the emotional leader forthis team to be able to help steady
them as they navigated their way throughoutthe rest of the regular season after the
trade deadline, especially and into thepostseason is something that would be truly remembered
for this past season. Kyrie Irvingspeaking about the foundation that's been built by
Dallas with him and Luca there andwhat the future looks like even after a
(17:41):
difficult loss in the NBA Finals.Take a listen. Very confident. I
mean, that's what's a positive notethat we can take from the series.
Just how far we made it,and you know, how proud of it
I am of the guys, andyou know, we answered a lot of
questions this year on what we werecapable of doing, and now it's just
(18:04):
about being consistent. I think,you know, probably in the last week
I said that, you know,I wanted to be remembered as one of
the best teams of this era.You know, the last few champions have
have been a new one each eachand every year. So I see an
opportunity for us to really build ourfuture in a positive manner where you know,
this is almost like a regular thingfor us, and we're competing for
(18:25):
championships, and you know, Ithink from a spiritual standpoint, I think
I enjoyed this journey more than anyother season, just because of the redemption
arc and being able to learn asmuch as I did by myself and my
teammates and organization and the people thatI'm around. It's a lot of good
people here, so it makes comingto work a lot of fun. And
(18:47):
when you have that type of environment, I think, you know, it's
easy to achieve goals that are biggerthan yourself because everyone's really dialed in and
having a good sense of joy aboutthem. And while yes, this loss
is difficult to process obviously, giventhe fact that a lot of folks came
into this series, thinking that theMavericks could potentially take out the Celtics.
The Mavericks learned a lot of lessonsin this series. And when you look
(19:10):
back at what happened in the NBAFinals with the Boston Celtics, you look
specifically at Games two and three.The Celtics were begging the Mavericks to take
Game two with the way that theywere playing, but the Mavericks weren't able
to take advantage on the road.We're at minimum that series could have been
at one point one coming back toDallas. And then in Game three,
(19:30):
of course, the Mavericks found themselvesmaking a twenty two to two run to
get within one with three and ahalf minutes left in the game in Game
three, again giving them an opportunityto potentially win. And when you look
at the resiliency of this team,specifically using the example of Game three of
the NBA Finals, a Mavericks teamthat during the regular season was extremely good
(19:53):
in the clutch, A team thatwent twenty three to nine in the clutch
the season. Only the Lakers morewins in the clutch during the regular season.
A team that never gave up ongames, whether it be making a
thirty one point come back to againstthe Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.
The multiple comebacks that we have seenfrom this team to be able to
(20:15):
get themselves in this position, ateam that never gave up on any game,
but at the same time was notable to take a lot of that
into the finals because they were playingsimply a better team. We mentioned the
makeup of the Celtics and how goodand how deep they were. They didn't
necessarily shoot the ball great from thethree point line, but they made enough
timely three pointers to be able togive themselves the opportunities to win these games.
(20:40):
And Mavericks didn't take advantage enough ofthose opportunities when they had them.
And then when they did in Gamefour, they sat down and they guarded,
and they defended, and they playedan extremely high level. And that
is one thing that I'm glad thatI got to see in terms of the
Mavericks in this NBA Finals that,at least for one game, even against
what was a better team the BostonCeltics and the Jugger or not that they
(21:02):
were throughout the course of the regularseason in postseason, you saw in Game
four what Mavericks basketball looks like andwhat it should look like going forward.
A team that can defend, ateam that can get in and attack the
paints led by the superstars and LucaDotson Kyrie, irving their role players,
whether it be Dante exem PJ Washingtonand a number of others be able to
(21:23):
be the catalyst to be supportive ofLuca and Kyrie for this team. That
is what Mavericks basketball looks like.That in Game three or Game four,
excuse me, is what you sawholding the Celtics to a season low eighty
four points, just thirty five pointsin the first half, the lowest in
the Joe Missoula era, who hadthirty five years of age, ironically is
(21:45):
the second youngest coach to win anNBA championship. But that is what Mavericks
basketball looks like. And overcoming theinjuries and the adversity that they dealt with
throughout the course of the year ofthis team who won fifty games during the
regular season, and you saw intheir most meaningful games down the stretch go
sixteen and two, become a defensivejuggernaut, a team that could win games
(22:08):
in a variety of ways. Iwish that we could have seen that a
little bit more in the NBA Finals, and when we talk about teams that
set foundations for years of success tocome, the Mavericks are in that position
with a couple of guys in termsof PJ. Washington and Daniel Gaffert at
the age of twenty five, whocould continue to grow with this team.
(22:30):
Luka Doncis the same as well,as he continues to navigate how much more
he can get healthy going into thisoffseason, because there are real questions about
whether or not Luka Doncis is goingto be trying to play in the Olympics.
We know what he was dealing withfrom an injury standpoint as the NBA
Finals went on, dealing with thechess contusion on top of the ankle soreness,
(22:52):
the knees sprain, the quad injury, and all the other myriad of
injuries that Luka Doncic has dealt with, and even with the criticism that he
was given during the NBA Finals becauseof his defense at times when Luka Donci's
desires to play well on that endof the floor, we know what he's
capable of going into next season.He will have to be that much more
(23:15):
consistent night in and night out tobe able to help this team continue to
be the kind of defensive team thatwe saw and hopefully with some help when
it comes to the off season andthe moves that Nico Harrison in his front
office can make to improve this team. But Luka Doncic, who was asked
about playing in the Olympics going intothis summer, especially dealing with the injuries
(23:37):
that he's dealing with, had thisto say about his future going into this
offseason. Take a listen, there'sa quick turnaround time before the Olympic qualifying
tournament. What do you I wantto talk about? What's next? Man?
I have some decisions, some decisionsto make, just trying to get
a little bit healthier. We'll talkwe have in two days, right,
(24:00):
so I'll give you an answer tothat. So Dodge is not really necessarily
to talk about what his future planslooks like, and we will learn over
the coming days exactly what he wasdealing with in terms of the extent of
his injuries, how bad they actuallywere, and how much it hampered him
as the rest of the postseason wenton. Because when you look at Game
(24:22):
five, you could tell that LukaDoncic had ran out of gas at that
point. The inability to make shotsin the three point line, where Luca
in Game number five with two ofnine from downtown hen and Kyrie Irviy combined
to go just five of fourteen orfive of eighteen excuse me from the three
point line. The Mavericks simply didnot have enough left in the tank.
(24:44):
In Game four was their last standto be able to try and create some
belief that they could make a historiccomeback in this NBA Finals, but ultimately
obviously falling short. But for LukaDoncic in the season that he had,
we mentioned some of the in crediblenumbers that he put together, a seventy
three point game, the NBA scoringChampion, making the first team All the
(25:07):
NBA for the fifth consecutive year,a player who has put himself in position
as a perennial MVP candidate, finishingthird in the MVP voting this year the
most points, rebounds, and assistscombined since the merger, a historic thirty
four to nine to nine seasons,something that we've never seen before. Improving
his three point shooting that during theregular season was shooting over thirty eight percent
(25:32):
from the three point line and continuingto put himself in position as arguably the
best player in the world and gettingto this stage. We saw the best
of Luka Doncic at times in thispostseason, and also the worst when it
came to the complaining to officials andhis inability to remain composed at times with
things not going necessarily his way whenit came to calls from the referees.
(25:57):
But all of this will serve asa learning lesson when you look at the
anles of NBA history. Going throughthis kind of cycle is important for a
player to be able to learn howto win and how to fail on this
stage. You can look at theteam that just beat the Celtics that they
just lost to in terms of Boston, the Celtics, who just a couple
(26:19):
of years ago lost in the NBAFinals two of the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics themselves were up two gamesto one with the lead in Game four
and ultimately lost to Stephen Curry andthe Warriors. Last year losing in seven
games to the Miami Heat and abitter Eastern Conference Finals where Jason Tatum got
hurt in Game seven and was ableto finish the East Final and then this
(26:41):
year steam rolling through everyone in theEast with the best record in the league
all season. They were determined tofinish the job. And for the Mavericks
when you look at the last threeseasons for them, a team that had
made a surprise run to the WesternConference Finals after taking out the utah As
and of course the Phoenix Suns inthat epic seven game series before ultimately losing
(27:04):
to what was the NBA champion GoldenState Wars and then dropping all the way
out of the lottery and into thelottery, I should say, after not
making the playoffs, they acquired KyrieIrving, moving on from Spencer Dinwiddie and
Dorian Finney Smith because they felt likethey had to increase the offensive ceiling,
to find another superstar to go alongsideLuka Doncics to raise the potential ceiling of
(27:26):
this team not just for last yearbut going into the future. But that
going by the wayside as a Matteriefinished thirty eight and forty four, five
and eleven with Luke and Kyrie togetherin the starting line and major questions from
folks on the outside if Luca andKyrie could be the type of dynamic duo
to be able to lead this chargeto an NBA Finals eventually, and then
(27:48):
they were able to do so andbeing able to turn the fortunes of the
Mavericks around. And it started withthe drafting of Derek Lively, the second
who's emergence as a rookie and hisgrowth maturity throughout the course of the year,
even dealing with difficulty in the lossof his mother, was really able
to turn this team's fortunes around onthe defensive end. And then pairing him
(28:10):
with Daniel Gaffor, you saw thedefensive juggernaut that the Mavericks became. And
when Dante Exim and PJ. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr. And they continued
to defend and knock down shots,and you saw the variety of ways that
the Mavericks were able to win gamesthroughout the course of the regular season,
Kyrie Irving hitting an epic buzzer beaterto beat the Denver Nuggets. The belief
(28:30):
and what this team could be andtheir potential into what they could be in
the postseason started to rise and youand I, as we chronicled throughout the
course of the season, thought maybethis is a team that could win a
first round series, maybe get tothe Western Conference semi finals, depending on
the matchup. Little did we knowthat this team was going to galvanize together
(28:52):
to become the team that they didto make the kind of run to the
NBA Finals. Not only that wasunexpected, but a team that at times
looked dominant in the postseason. Justasks the Minnesota Timberwolves. How the Mavericks
are able to take them out infive games with Luka Doncis's incredible shot making
Obviously, remember what he did inGame two, cooking Rudy Gobert for the
(29:14):
game winning three pointer and being ableto win that series in five games.
Jason Kidd and this team showed thekind of growth and potential that should give
us, as Mavericks fans and folkswho watch and cover this team the confidence
that was Nico Harrison's leadership in thefront office. Jason Kidd, yes,
the much maligned Jason Kidd, beable to leave this team down the road
(29:34):
because you've got your two pillars andLuka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way.
Even with Kyrie Irving at the ageof thirty two, how much more
does he have left over the nextcouple of years to help the Mavericks stay
in finals contention where it's going tobe difficult. In the Western Conference.
You look at the Denver Nuggets,of Minnesota, Timberwolves obviously, with the
(29:56):
Oklahoma City Thunder, the return ofJohn Morant with the Memphis Grizzlies. There
are a ton of teams with aton of talent that the Mavericks are going
to have to deal with over thenext several years. And yes, was
this a missed opportunity for the Mavericksto win an NBA championship. Of course
it was. Every time you getto the finals, you want to win
(30:18):
it because you never know how longit may take you to get back.
Just look at Dirt Navinski. DirtDavinsky and his Mavericks, of course,
made the NBA Finals back in twothousand and six, had a two games
to none lead there lost that series, of course, with the Miami Heat
winning four straight games, but ittook him several years to get back to
that point and eventually taking on theMiami Heat once again a new version of
(30:41):
course, with Lebron James and ChrisBosh and Dwayne Wade. But the Mavericks
were able to win with a veteranpoint guard and Jason Kidd, a defensive
minded team led by Tyson Chandler,and of course they're Superstar and Dirt Nevinsky.
The Mavericks will have to go throughthese growing pains, as difficult as
they are, but they can lookto their past to see that if you
(31:03):
continue to work to build and growand build the right chemistry around your top
superstars, in this case being LukaDonci Kyrie Irving, you can get back
to this point. Will the roadbe difficult, It will be extremely difficult
to navigate in the Western Conference,But at the same time, when you
have arguably the best player in theworld and the best sidekick in the league
(31:25):
and Kyrie Irving, you feel goodabout your chances to eventually get back to
the NBA finals. But painful learninglessons For Luka Dacic, who will now
go into this offseason, we willlearn, as I mentioned a little bit
earlier, the extent to which hisinjuries were plaguing him throughout the course of
the regular season and into the postseason, and what that means for him,
(31:47):
not only in terms of his plansto play in the Olympics, but what
that means in terms of his ownrehab to get ready for this upcoming season
for the Mavericks, because the longer, of course you play in the regular
season and into the postseason obviously intothe NBA Finals, need more shorten your
offseason becomes because we'll be right backat it in three and a half months,
(32:07):
which will fly by like crazy.We've got the NBA Draft coming up
here relatively shortly, We've got NBAfree agency coming up at the end of
June, and before you know it, we're going to be looking at the
month of July and getting ready forSummer League here within less than a month.
So the NBA timeline and calendar continuesto fly, and the Mavericks have
(32:28):
got a lot of work to doto improve this team, namely with trying
to keep Dereck Jones junior. DanteExum's contract becomes guaranteed with the three point
one to five million dollars at theend of June as well, and what
the mavers are going to do withthe fifty eighth overall pick, the final
pick in the NBA drafts. We'llsee if Ronnie James may be there and
available for the Mavericks to take wherewe've heard rumors that they would be willing
(32:52):
to draft Ronnie James. I don'tnecessarily think he'll be there by the time
we get to the NBA Draft,But that's another conversation for another day.
But this is a chance for usto be able to understand, reflect,
and be able to look at theentire accomplishments of this team throughout the course
of the regular season. While yesending in bitter disappointment in the NBA Finals,
(33:15):
they lost to what was the betterteam and the Boston Celtics, who
proved that to be throughout the courseof the entirety of the regular season.
But now looking forward from the Mavericks, their future is bright. They've got
established superstars in Luca Dons and KyrieIrving, a core of young foundational pieces
that they can build on who willget better during the offseason, and hopefully
(33:37):
with some tinkers and improvements, thisteam will be right back where they need
to be moving forward. But theirplace as finals contenders is officially stamped and
officially to move going forward here,this team will have a MVP favorite.
Luca Doncs will be the MVP favoritegoing into this upcoming season. This team
who has gone through the experience now, and that is the thing that I
(34:00):
will take the most solace with goinginto the summer and into next season.
This team has been through what ittakes to make a finals run. Luca
Doncis now understands what it takes,the kind of sacrifice body control and taking
care of his body to be ableto get to an NBA Finals. He
will have to improve on that goinginto this upcoming season. But all the
(34:22):
experience now, experience, especially inlife and in basketball, is the best
teacher they found. Getting valuable experiencehere and dealing with this Celtics team,
albeit in the loss of the finals, that will take them and carry them
going into next season and hopefully serveas the fuel and motivation and the fire
to get back to this position toultimately capitalize on this, because I don't
(34:45):
think this is the last that wewill see on Luca Doncis in the Dallas
Maveris in the NBA Finals. Butit will be incumbent upon them to be
able to take that onus and challengeto be able to be in this spot
next year, to be able tohave a chance to win a championship.
And I believe that the competitive firethat Luka Doncic has along with the rest
of this team will be able tobe in that spot and it will be
(35:08):
one hell of a regular season aswe chronicle them going into next year and
hopefully another deep playoff run on whatthat looks like, because this loss,
this finals experience will definitely drive LukaDoncis that much further to become the NBA
champion that we believe he's destined tobecome. But ultimately falling on this stage
(35:30):
for the very first time, theDallas Mavericks lose in five games to the
Boston Celtics as the Celtics celebrate theireighteenth championship in franchise history. As I
mentioned, Jalen Brown named Eastern ConferenceFinals MVP and the NBA Finals MVP,
Luka donci Is winning Western Conference FinalsMVP on his way to his first NBA
(35:50):
Finals. The Mavericks future is bright. The question is how much brighter can
it get with the moves that theywill need to make to improve this team
going forward, But we will chronicleplenty throughout the course of the offseason here
on inside the MAVs. Thank youso much for this incredible ride in this
season. Here on Inside the Mask. Thank you so much to you and
your support of me and Grant onthis podcast throughout the course of the regular
(36:15):
season and end of the postseason.We really appreciate all of you who continue
to support Inside the Mass, whetherit be downloading the podcast, watching here
on my YouTube channel at Kevin GraySports. Continue to help us grow the
show and the podcast as well.We'll have plenty of more covers throughout the
course of the NBA Draft into NBAFree Agency. I'll be at Summer League
(36:35):
this year as well. We've gota lot more to bring you here on
Inside the MAVs again. That'll doit for this episode of Inside the Mass
presented by Aura. I'm your Maverickspre and postgame host Kevin Gray on the
Dallas Maveris Radio Network. Thank youto all those who listen throughout all of
our radio broadcasts throughout the course ofthe season. It was one hell of
a ride and we cannot wait toget back at it going into next year
(36:59):
as well. But this has beenInside the MAVs presented by our
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